Republic of Safety

Vacation

Since the evolution of Broken Social Scene, the musical communities of Toronto and Montreal have tightened, with people from both cities co-operating in different bands for new creations. The Republic of Safety has some help from Final Fantasy/Arcade Fire talent Owen Pallett as well as Gentleman Reg, but they’re only as good as the songs they guest on. Think of a cross between Sleater-Kinney and Blondie and a song like “Disposable World” immediately comes to life. Just as perky and poppy is the fun title track that gels instantly. There is urgency about the song that certainly doesn’t hurt either. Another pleaser (heck, there’s only four here) is “The Insects” which returns to what the opening song did so well. A bit more on the artsy, Patti Smith mold is “The Favorite Game”, which a maze of guitar buried deep in the mix.

Vacation

Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.